Onyxia
=General Information= Lore thumb|left|She looks a bit mad... thumb|right|The Black Dragon Onyxia Onyxia is the daughter of the mighty dragon Deathwing. Long ago, Onyxia drove the ogres from the caves in Dragonmurk, not with any specific ill will, but merely for a place to raise her numerous children, who would then leave to infest the Wyrmbog. She and her children became known for terrorizing any travelers who stray too close to her home. Since Deathwing's departure, his eldest children have risen to lead their brethren and recoup their failing numbers. Deathwing's eldest son, the malicious and cunning Nefarian, has claimed the burning fortress of Blackrock Spire as his aerie. There, aided by his loyal dragonspawn, he subverted the remaining Blackrock Orcs and ensnared the black dragons not already under his control. thumb|right|Onyxia in disguise as Lady Katrana Prestor One of Nefarian's mightiest supporters is his younger sister, Onyxia. A clever, highly intelligent dragon, she delights in corrupting the mortal races by meddling in their political affairs. To this end, she takes on various humanoid forms and uses her charm and power to influence delicate matters between the different races. Onyxia has even assumed an alias once used by her father - the title of the royal House Prestor. Though Onyxia is relatively small for a black dragon of her age, she shares the same powers and abilities as the rest of her terrible flight. Her searing breath weapon can melt both stone and iron. Her physical attacks, whether bites, scrapes or tail lashes, are lightning quick and nearly unstoppable. When cornered, Onyxia is fond of taking flight and blasting her troublesome prey from above. Though Onyxia has been sighted traveling to and from Blackrock Mountain, her main lair is located in a fiery cave below the Dragonmurk, a dismal swamp located within Dustwallow Marsh. There she is guarded by her kin, the remaining members of the insidious Black Dragonflight. There also her brood of new eggs is hidden - awaiting maturation. Should anyone ever threaten Onyxia within her lair - within distance of her precious eggs - her wrath would be terrible beyond comprehension. Onyxia's name is derived from the word "onyx", a precious stone, opaque and completely black. It is often used to describe something that is extremely black and dark. Onyxia also appears as Lady Katrana Prestor, the woman standing immediately to the right of the boy king, Anduin Wrynn. Prestor is the name taken by Deathwing disguised, in the first book of Richard A. Knaak. Vital Statistics *Level: Boss (63 Elite) *Location: Onyxia's Lair *Type: Dragonkin *Health: ~1.1 million Loot Onyxia drops numerous important items each time she is killed. These include: *Tier 2 head pieces (two drop each kill). *Mature Black Dragon Sinew (roughly 25% drop each kill) for the hunter epic quest chain. *Draconic for Dummies (Chapter 4) for the quest chain to open the gates on Ahn'Quiraj. *Head of Onyxia (one drop each kill), which can be turned in for a very nice necklace, ring, or trinket. *Onyxia Hide Bag (one drop each kill) *Scale of Onyxia skinned from her are used to sew Onyxia Scale Cloaks which are instrumental when going to Blackwing Lair. *A wide assortment of other epic, rare, and uncommon equipment and recipes. Quests In order to enter Onyxia's Lair and get to Onyxia, you must have the Drakefire Amulet in your inventory or on your neck. To get this, Horde characters must complete a quest chain that starts with Warlord's Command from Warlord Goretooth in Kargath (talk to him until he gives you written orders). Alliance characters must complete a quest chain that starts with Dragonkin Menace from Helendis Riverhorn in the Burning Steppes. Killing Onyxia is part of several epic quest chains. *The warrior and paladin epic quest for Quel'Serrar, which starts from Foror's Compendium of Dragon Slaying, a rare drop from Dire Maul bosses. *The hunter quest chain for Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers and Lok'delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers. This chain starts from the Ancient Petrified Leaf, found in the Cache of the Firelord, which appears after the defeat of Majordomo Executus in Molten Core. Onyxia drops a Mature Black Dragon Sinew in about one of every four kills, and it is required to complete the chain. *The quest chain to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, which starts with What Tomorrow Brings from Baristolth of the Shifting Sands in Cenarion Hold. Onyxia drops Chapter 4 of Draconic for Dummies for this chain. *Celebrating Good Times (Alliance) and For All To See (Horde), which each award one of Dragonslayer's Signet, Onyxia Tooth Pendant, or Onyxia Blood Talisman. The quest chain starts from Head of Onyxia after you loot it from Onyxia's corpse. = Strategy Guide = Onyxia's Abilities Onyxia has many abilities that she uses throughout any fight with her. They vary depending on the phase of the fight that you are in. The abilities are as follows: Overall Abilities ; Taunt Immunity : Onyxia is immune to all abilities which cause a monster to instantly target the caster. So, abilities such as Taunt, Challenging Shout, and Mocking Blow don't work as usual on her. Other threat-generating abilities such as Sunder Armor do work as usual. ; Whelp Eggs : At the East and West sides of Onyxia's Lair are the the two entrances to a tunnel full of eggs. When a character gets too close to the eggs, many whelps will hatch and attack. ; Warder Respawn : As soon as Onyxia is engaged, her Onyxian Warders respawn in the tunnel. They despawn as soon as she is defeated. These Warders discourage players from hiding from her in the tunnel. ; Teleport : As with many other raid bosses, Onyxia will teleport characters to herself if they are far away or unreachable when she is in combat. This usually happens to characters in the entrance tunnel, but can randomly happen to characters at any position in her lair. Phase 1 Abilities ; Flame Breath : This is a breath of fire that hits everyone in front of Onyxia, including to a considerable distance to the sides. This damage is fire based and hits for upwards of 4000 damage ; Knock Away : This attack hits targets in front of Onyxia, knocks them back a distance, and reduces her hate of the target. If this reduces hate enough, she will switch targets. ; Tail Swipe : Onyxia can attack everyone behind her with her mighty tail. This hits for very little damage (about 300) but sends the target flying sideways. This attack can cause a wipe if the victim gets knocked into a whelp cave. Phase 2 Abilities ; Flight : In the second stage of the Onyxia fight, she takes flight and can only be hit by ranged attacks and special attacks. Normal melee auto-attacks cannot reach her. Special melee attacks (rogues ambush, sinister strike, eviscerate...) can reach her. ; Engulfing Flames (Fireball) : While in flight Onyxia will breathe fireballs down on random players. This hits as a main hit and a splash damage hit. It does up to 3000 damage to the player it hits and can do up to 1500 to anyone nearby. ; Whelp Spawns : Small groups of whelps periodically hatch from the eggs and attack, regardless of whether any characters are near them. ; Deep Breath : Onyxia emotes "Onyxia takes in a deep breath..." and a few seconds later, she breathes a huge gout of fire that rolls straight across the room from her current position to the opposite wall. Character in the middle of this attack get hit five or six times and are likely to die. Characters on the sides of the attack get missed entirely or get hit only once. : There are many theories about what causes Onyxia to perform her Deep Breath attack. These include being not spread out enough, not damaging her quickly enough, and not having enough debuffs on her. However, none of these theories is confirmed at this time. It appears she periodically simply has a random chance of performing the attack. Regardless of the cause, it is important to learn how to respond to this attack when she does perform it (see below). Attempting to prevent Deep Breath attacks is of secondary importance. Phase 3 Abilities ; Phase 1 Abilities : During Phase 3, Onyxia has all of her Phase 1 abilities again. ; AOE Fear (Bellowing Roar) / Lava Cracks : Onyxia does an AOE fear at random interval. Sometimes you will have up to 30 seconds between fears and sometimes as little as 10 seconds. Just before she does the screen shakes and then the AOE fear occurs and this also triggers the lava cracks to spew forth lava. When this happens it hits characters for a good amount of fire damage (roughly 500) and causes them to be feared, which makes them run through other lava jets, causing cumulative damage. ; Whelp Spawns : Small groups of whelps occasionally spawn from the eggs and attack, regardless of whether any characters are near them. These spawns are rare, unlike the common spawns in Phase 2. These spawns are comprised of five or so whelps, unlike the huge spawns of 20+ whelps that result when characters are feared or knocked into the eggs. These spawns usually appear early in Phase 3, and may be delayed effects of the normal whelp generation in Phase 2. ; Bugged Heal : Onyxia heals herself for 45% over ten seconds. This is extremely rare. It appears to happen only in very long fights. Even in long fights, though, it does not usually happen. It is reported here because it has been witnessed numerous times (including by the current writer), and it can wipe raids. The healing may be due to a bug, instead of a normal ability. It is not the normal "evade" healing, as Onyxia does not evade and can be attacked normally while she heals. It can happen when there are no characters on the walls of the cave. This heal is so rare that it should not be considered in strategies for beating Onyxia. Combat Strategy The Onyxia fight is made up of three separate phases. The first is when you enter and lasts until she is dropped until roughly 65%. At this point she will walk to the south end of the room and take flight, entering stage 2. This stage lasts until she is dropped to about 40% health, at which point she will land and enter the third and final stage of the fight. Preparation Upon entering Onxyia's Lair, you will fight through a tunnel containing a few Onyxian Warders. These are easy raid monsters. The keys to defeating them are to make sure that only the main tank is close enough to them to get hit by their Fire Nova attack, and to pull them carefully, so that you face only one at a time. When you reach the main chamber at the end of the tunnel, you will see Onyxia resting on the ground. Take this time to buff everyone and ensure that everyone has full health and mana. If you are using Greater Fire Protection Potions, take them now to start the potion cooldown. Select and put on your equipment for an appropriate mix of fire resistance, armor, healing, mana regeneration, and damage output. Set up a healing rotation on the main tank to ensure he stays at full health, and that healers can regenerate mana between rotations. Establish two groups (typically Group 7 and Group 8) as whelp groups. They will kill whelps during Phase Two. These groups must have at least one mage for AoE and is best to have another form of AoE as well (either a second mage or a warlock). They also require healers and warriors. There should be no whelps in Phase One or Phase Three, but they sometimes happen anyway. These groups should keep an eye out for whelps in those phases but can focus mainly on Onyxia with the rest of the raid. Establish which groups go where for Phase One and Phase Three. Typically, Groups 1, 3, 5, and 7 go left (west), and Groups 2, 4, 6, and 8 go right (east). Phase One Strategies Phase One starts as soon as anyone enters Onyxia's main chamber. Entering and Positioning When everyone is ready, the Main Tank charges in with everyone else following about two or three seconds behind. The main tank runs straight past Onyxia, pulling her to the far north side of the room so that she faces the wall. The best positioning takes a little practice and is a few steps in front of the wall. This is so that the main tank's back is to the wall to limit the effectiveness of her Knock Away ability and so that the main tank is the only one in front of her when she breathes fire. Everyone else must charge in two or three seconds after the main tank. If they wait longer, there is a danger of attracting attention from a freshly-spawned Onyxian Warder. If they go sooner, they run the risk of getting hit by Onyxia's Flame Breath attack. Don't get ahead of her! Everyone but the main tank splits to the sides to the northeast and northwest "corners" of Onyxia's chamber. Each side forms three main groups. Closest to Onyxia is the melee group, roughly at her shoulders. Next is the ranged and healing group, which should be right along the wall. Last, and farthest south, is the whelp group. Establish Main Tank Hate and Initiate Slow Damage Initially, nobody attacks Onyxia except the main tank. The main tank is the only one to be fighting Onyxia for at least a minute, or until she drops to 99% health (whichever comes first). At this point, the DPS characters start doing damage while being careful to avoid drawing aggro away from the main tank. This is not a race. Phase One is a slow, steady fight. Do not try to rush. All DPS characters try for about 50-75% of their max DPS output. Anyone with a way to dump aggro does so (IE: Hunters feign death etc) as often as they can. Mages and warlocks use wands to save mana and generate minimal hate (having over 90% mana going into Phase Two is helpful). Remember that Onyxia's Flame Breath can do up to 4000 damage. Remember this, because if anyone draws aggro away from the main tank, she turns sideways and may breathe. If she does, she can kill all cloth wearers (casters and healers) on that side, very likely causing a wipe. Therefore it is very important to not overdo the damage. Also remember that Onyxia's Knock Away ability reduces her hate on the main tank. The main tank is unable to hold aggro as well as usual, so the DPS classes cannot do damage to her as fast as usual. If, despite this warning, you pull aggro off of the main tank and Onyxia attacks you, attempt to shake her off of you with Feign Death, Vanish, Ice Block, Divine Shield, Divine Protection, Fade, or a Flask of Petrification. If that doesn't work, run to the tanking spot at the northern end of the chamber and fight her there. You are going to die anyway, and this will keep Onyxia from breathing flame on other characters as she kills you. Phase Two Strategies Phase Two starts when Onyxia reaches 65% health. She walks towards the south end of her lair and takes flight. There are four basic goals for Phase Two: *Reduce damage from Deep Breath and fireball attacks. *Keep whelps under control. *Damage Onyxia as quickly as possible. *Prepare for Phase Three. Phase Two Positioning In this phase you must ensure that everyone maintains spacing from each other to reduce blast damage from fireballs. Players need to move around to ensure they have range to Onyxia while she is flying. Ideally you want to be to on either side of the line created by her head-tail axis as her breath always flows through it. This will minimize the distance you need to run to avoid a deep breath should it occur. It's also wise to turn on an aggro warning mod to warn you when you're about to be fireballed. There is always a 2-5 second delay between her targetting someone and actually shooting the fireball. Once targetted, skilled players should distance themselves from teammates to help avoid collateral damage. Phase Two Whelps When Onyxia takes off, each whelp pit will spawn a large group of whelps that need to be dealt with quickly. The raid should help the whelp groups clear this initial spawning as fast as possible before moving on to help with Onyxia. Since the first spawn is quite large and can kill clothies quite easly, it is advised to put a tank right at the entrance to the whelps pit, who will cast Challenging Shout to aggro the whelps to him. Then the mages can kill those easily. After the initial group is dead the whelps spawn in regular intervals in smaller numbers that can be dealt with fairly easily once you are used to them. Dodging Deep Breath Attacks Onyxia flies around the room, periodically stopping to attack. Each time she stops, there is a small, random chance that she will perform a Deep Breath attack. When she does, everyone must run to a safe wall location or die. The correct wall areas are those orthogonal to the path of the flame. For example, if she is in the north, run to the east or west wall of her cave. To save time, hunters ping her position on the mini-map and call out her position or the correct wall areas upon a deep breath warning. Max out Damage Get Onyxia down to about 40% health as fast as you can. Ranged damage is the main thing that can hit her while in flight so it is important to have everyone doing as much ranged DPS as possible. Rogues and other melee can hit her by using special attacks. Track all debuffs and DoTs on her and ensure they are kept up to move through this phase as quickly as possible. Onyxia ignores threat generation during Phase Two, so there is no reason to hold back on damage. The more quickly Phase 2 ends, the fewer Deep Breath attacks Onyxia will perform. Prepare for Phase Three Phase Two ends as Onyxia is brought to 40% health. At the start of Phase Three, she lands at a variable point in the cave and starts her ground attack. She casts a fear spell within seconds of landing, so all players must position themselves away from the whelp caves before she does so. If not, the fear effect may cause some to run into the whelp eggs, spawning a lot of whelps. Due to Onyxia's in-flight hate wiping, the main tank will have very little hate as she lands. He must build rage on whelps, then use Sunder Armor and other hate-generating attacks on Onyxia shortly before she lands. Another technique is for the main tank to bandage himself as she is landing due to the large amount of aggro created by the self-healing. Casters stop attacking somewhere between 41% and 44%. Hunters and rogues keep attacking until she starts to land, at which point they Feign Death or Vanish. Phase Three Strategies Phase Three starts as Onyxia is brought to 40% health. She lands and resumes her attack from the ground. The phase ends when she dies. Phase Three tactics are very similar to Phase One, except that fear requires special handling and the raid will take damage from lava spurts. The main goals are as follows: *Position to reduce trouble from fear. *Establish and control main tank aggro. *Deal with fear. *Perform slow DPS. Positioning In Phase Three everyone should move back to their Phase One positioning with one minor change. You should make sure you are not standing on the cracks that will erupt lava. While this will not prevent taking damage it will limit it somewhat and if positioned perfectly you will not be feared by it. Make sure everyone is spread out and that the MT is back to the north end of the room. There is a considerably better spot for ranged DPS, and main tank healers. At the exact center of the room is a medium-sized area with fewer lava cracks (prior to Patch 1.11, these did not spew lava at all). Ranged damage-dealers standing here can avoid all damage from Onyxia and the lava, although they may be attacked by whelps. They must stand back far enough to avoid Onyxia's tail. Healers who are healing the main tank should stand against the wall, and as far back as possible. This gives them the best chance to avoid both Onyxia's Fire Breath and Tail Swipe attacks when feared. Melee must stay well forward of her tail! If you are too far back, she may fear you into her tail, which will toss you into a whelp pit, which will spawn 20 whelps, which will wipe the raid. Also, everyone must stay away from the whelp pits to avoid being feared directly into them. If you do end up spawning a bunch of whelps, call it out so that the whelp groups can kill them quickly. AoE damage is required to have any chance of success. Aggro Control At beginning of Phase Three, the main tank may have a difficult time re-establishing aggro. Onyxia may attack and kill a half-dozen members of the raid before the main tank finally gets her attention. Getting her attention is a lot faster if, near the end of Phase 2, the main tank applies Sunder Armor and the casters stop attacking. Usually a full 1% health drop (as in Phase One) will ensure complete aggro control for the rest of the fight if people are careful with their DPS. As in Phase One, if you draw aggro from the main tank, either shake it or run to the tanking spot to die. This is very likely to happen at the beginning of Phase 3 to all cloth classes, so be ready for it. Onyxia's hate at the start of Phase 3 is still not completely understood, and is a hot topic of debate. Dealing with Fear Onyxia's fear spell causes a considerable amount of chaos. Aside from disrupting healing and damage-dealing, it causes all players to lose their position and to take damage from running through lava spurts. It sometimes causes the main tank to run sideways. When this happens, Onyxia turns to follow him, and may then breathe flame on members of the raid on that side. If you are Alliance, it helps to have a Dwarf priest be the main healer on the MT during Phase 3. The Dwarf priest racial ability is Fear Ward. When cast on the MT during Phase 3 it can prevent the main tank from being feared. Horde raids can plant two Tremor Totems next to the tank, three seconds apart. These will usually cause the tank to come out of fear quickly. They need to be renewed during the fight. Both Alliance and Horde tanks can avoid the fear somewhat via the Stance Dance, as with Magmadar. The shaking screen gives just enough warning to use Berserker Rage. However, the reduced hate generation and extra damage taken from Berserker Stance while the healers are feared can be problematic. An advanced tactic is to have two tanks, who must both build hate. The Off-Tank hits Berserker Rage to avoid the fear, and becomes the main tank until the fear is over. This requires more skill by the healers and tanks, and more fire resistance gear. However, if done properly, it ensures that Onyxia will never turn due to fear effects. The off-tank may be positioned with the main tank, to avoid repositioning, or at her shoulder, to avoid damage. If you are not the tank, you must not avoid or break the fear effect. Onyxia will always attack un-feared targets before targets that do have the fear effect. What this means is that if you aren't feared, Onyxia may turn, breathe flame on you and many other players, and wipe the raid. Stay away from tremor totems. Don't use Will of the Forsaken or your PvP trinkets to break fear. There is a small chance of resisting the fear. If you resist it, Onyxia will attack you. Run to the tanking spot until the main tank recovers from fear and regains aggro. Perform Slow DPS This part of the fight is similar to Phase One. Keep your DPS under control doing about 50-75% of your max and clearing aggro as often as you can. Damage-dealing classes can gradually ramp up their damage output as Phase 3 progresses and the main tank builds more hate. Hunters can do this more quickly by using Feign Death. At 10% health, it is usually possible to apply maximum damage. This is a balancing act, as Onyxia must be brought down before attrition from the lava spurts causes the loss of too many players, yet the damage-dealers must not pull aggro from the main tank. Hints Onyxia is more about long term patience than all-out DPS and speed. If you follow the strategies laid out here and have patience and practice a little you should have no issue beating her. Phase One is insanely easy if no one goes crazy on DPS. Phase Two becomes easy once you figure out how to deal with the whelps, dodge Deep Breath attacks, and keep up ranged DPS. Phase Three requires some luck the first several times you do it, and a ton of skill on the main tank's part to keep control while being feared and knocked back. The hardest part of the whole fight is the main tank regaining aggro at the end of Phase Two / beginning of Phase Three. Once that part is mastered, the fight goes a lot more smoothly. Once again, the key is for the main tank to apply Sunder Armor to Onyxia while she is still in the air. The next-hardest part of the fight is learning to avoid Deep Breath attacks. Once again, the keys here are to keep your character positioned in or near a safe spot at all times during Phase Two and to damage Onyxia so quickly that she has few chances to perform the attack. Keep your tanks alive at all costs. Since Onyxia is immune to taunt, your main tank cannot regain aggro if he dies and is resurrected. If your main tank does die, your raid's only hope is to have another tank take over. This is a scripted fight that will take some practice. No matter how accurate any strategy guide is, nothing can prepare you more than experience. Expect a few wipes and plan for it. Some guilds take 20 - 30 wipes before downing her for the first time, and then continue to have occasional wipes. Greater Fire Protection Potions are useful during this fight, especially while learning it. They are better than healing potions in dealing with fire damage. Heal with bandages. Healers will be focused on the main tank, so everyone else must be prepared to take care of themselves. Fire Resistance gear is important for the MT and OT, but is subject to discussion for everyone else. It increases survivability, but people should pay attention not to gimp themselves too much. The CT Raid Assist mod provides a large, loud warning before Onyxia performs a Deep Breath attack. It also warns as she enters Phase Two and Phase Three. It also provides a large number of other features useful in raids. This mod is highly recommended for all raids. The KLH Threat Meter mod provides a fairly accurate estimate of monster hate. If everyone uses it, it can help avoid loss of aggro by the main tank. thumb|left|Onyxia's Head Mounted in Stormwind =More Info= * There is a video showing Onyxia being killed by 8 players. (video) * There is also a video showing Onyxia beeing killed by amazing 5 players! (video) *See The Onyxia Bible by the Pacifist guild. This includes diagrams of which areas to run to when she deep breaths, depending on her position. *Some taken from http://www.lunarfalls.com/WarCraft/index.html Lunarfalls Category:Dragons Category:Instance Characters Category:Bosses